Fact Check: Can a person convicted of a crime run for president?

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — On Tuesday, former president and current candidate Donald Trump went before a judge and pleaded not guilty to charges — including counts of retaining classified information, obstructing justice, and making false statements. He’s also facing charges in New York related to allegedly paying hush money to an adult film actress.

He has proclaimed his innocence in both criminal cases.

But can he be elected if he’s been indicted or found guilty in a felony case? The answer can be found in the U.S. Constitution.

The framers of the Constitution spelled out the requirements in Article Two — There are only three. You must be 35 years old. You must be a natural born U.S. citizen. And you must have been a resident in the United States for 14 years. That’s it.

There is no mention of criminal convictions or arrests that would prevent someone from running for president. For more context, News10NBC spoke with constitutional law expert, attorney Don Chesworth from the law firm of Tully Rinckey.

“When the founding fathers decided what was important, they probably didn’t even imagine that there would be a possibility of a convicted criminal running for office,” Chesworth said.

Or perhaps they decided to leave it to the voters to decide if it disqualified someone from becoming president.

“It’s an interesting time in our political life, and every day is a new revelation of some sort,” Chesworth added.

So, on a person facing, or even convicted of, felony charges being eligible to run for our nation’s highest office — that is TRUE.

While rare, it wouldn’t be the first time a convicted felon ran for president. Lyndon LaRouche, a perennial third party candidate, was convicted of mail fraud in 1988. That didn’t stop him from running for president —from prison in 1992 — and again three times after that.